By
Susan Owensby

This week on The Sound Kitchen, guest chef Aidan O’Donnell gives you the answer to the question about the cessation of diplomatic and economic relationships with Qatar. There’s some great music, and of course, the new quiz question. Just click on the arrow in the photo and enjoy!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to The Sound Kitchen. You can catch the programme on-the-air every Saturday at 6:15, 7:15, 14:45 and 16:45 universal time. You’ll hear the winner’s names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you have grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and tune in every Saturday.

For our DX enthusiast friends: Our shortwave frequency is 11905 kHz on the 25m band, from 06.00 to 07.00 UT every day. We’ve had reception reports from Algeria, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US, and although the frequency is “aimed” (or however that works) towards the African continent, give it a try. You never know … and be sure and send us your reception reports. Maybe we can get more time, which would be wonderful.

You can also hear our programs on WRMI and WRN. These broadcasters diffuse our programs out of the goodness of their hearts, but unless you tell us how you heard us, we have no way of knowing … so do write and tell us how you listen to us.

A hearty welcome to the new section of the RFI International DX Radio Listeners Club in Murshidibad, India, Mr Najim Uddin, president. They’ve added a “sub-club” - the RFI Students and Sports Club – to their existing club.

Welcome!

If you would like to create an official RFI club, or transform your existing listeners club into an RFI club, click on the link at the end of the article for information on how to get started.

Welcome to our new RFI Listeners Club members! Babul Gogoi from Assam, India; Rwandan Vital Munanira, living now in Nairobi, Kenya; Lacula John Mary from Uganda; Bubacarr Baldeh from The Gambia; Chinmoy Mahato from Jamshedpur, India; Mohamed Elsayed Abd Elraheim from Elsharkya, Egypt and two new members from Naogaon, Bangladesh: Mokhlesur Rahaman Mollah and Khondaker Rafiqul Islam. .

Welcome one and all! If you would like to join the RFI Listeners Club, just send an e-mail to english.service@rfi.fr and I’ll get you signed up – it’s that easy!

This week’s quiz: On 10 June, Aidan O’Donnell asked you a question about the Middle East. That week, five Arab nations broke all economic and diplomatic ties with Qatar – even cutting off land, air and sea travel to and from Qatar. You were to write in with the names of those five countries.

The answer is: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Yemen. Since then, Comoros, Mauritania, Senegal, the Maldives and the government of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland have also cut off ties. The Tobruk-based government of Libya say they too have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, even though they have no diplomatic representation in the country. And there are four countries which have downgraded diplomatic ties with Qatar without fully cutting relations: Chad, Djibouti, Jordan, and Niger.

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Ibrahim Umar Abdulkarim from Kano State in Nigeria. Ibrahim sent his answer in a text to the Sound Kitchen mobile phone, which you can do, too – scroll down to the bottom of this page for the phone number. Hailing from Chiniot District in Pakistan, Ali Shahzad Chadhar is a winner this week, as is Mrs Momtaz Begum, a member of the Shapla Digital Radio Fan Club in Kurigram, Bangladesh. There’s John Kennedy Adzomani from Kumasi, Ghana, and last but not least, Esther Akiteng, from the Kumi Central RFI Listeners Club in Kampala, Uganda.

Congratulations winners!

This week’s question: You'll have to listen to the show to participate. You have until 7 August to enter this week's quiz. The winners will be announced on the 12 August program. When you enter, be sure you send your postal address in with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.